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View Full Version : Rituals in 4E that can restore limbs?



Mystic Muse
2010-06-21, 02:05 PM
My DM is trying to take "Torn asunder" and put it in 4th edition. I'm wondering if there are any rituals that restore lost limbs like the restoration spell in 3.5?

I'm asking because, if not, this could screw over quite a few character types who would be better off dead than not having an arm or a leg.

Hzurr
2010-06-21, 02:39 PM
Honestly, tell your DM that if he's going to put in a way to lose limbs in 4E, he should put in a way to get limbs. Easiest thing to do would be to add it to one of the existing healing rituals.

Mystic Muse
2010-06-21, 02:45 PM
Honestly, tell your DM that if he's going to put in a way to lose limbs in 4E, he should put in a way to get limbs. Easiest thing to do would be to add it to one of the existing healing rituals.

Well, if there aren't any rituals that can do that, I'm just going to try and convince him to not spend the time doing this.

Kylarra
2010-06-21, 02:52 PM
Well, if there aren't any rituals that can do that, I'm just going to try and convince him to not spend the time doing this.
I don't believe there are any, simply because 4e doesn't tend to have permanently debilitating effects, beyond being dead of course. Break Enchantment for petrify might be the closest analogue.

I'm AFB so I can't recall specifics.

valadil
2010-06-21, 03:09 PM
There are no such rituals because there are no mechanics for removing limbs in 4e. "Restore legs" would be useless right now, so it doesn't exist. If your GM wants to remove limbs he should provide restoration effects as well.

An alternative idea would be to model Dragon Age's injury system. In 4e you get a -1 death penalty for 2 milestones after you get rezzed. Instead of a generic -1, why not make up some other injuries? These would include things like concussions, missing limbs, broken bones, etc and each would give a different penalty. You could heal them between adventures or with an injury removal scroll. Basically you're just giving the death penalty more flavor and effectiveness.

Kurald Galain
2010-06-22, 03:21 AM
I would suggest that breaking an arm makes you weakened, and that breaking a leg makes you slowed, and that the Remove Condition ritual gets rid of either.

Thajocoth
2010-06-22, 08:13 AM
I think Raise Dead can restore limbs. You need to kill the patient first though... That's hardly optimal.

I would say, if you're hit points are full, how could you possibly be missing a limb? So healing would simply regenerate it.

Granted, that does make Inspiring Word, Second Wind and sleep feel a bit odd...

valadil
2010-06-22, 08:19 AM
I would say, if you're hit points are full, how could you possibly be missing a limb? So healing would simply regenerate it.


Good point. Maybe if you're injured you can only hold half your max healing surges?

Kylarra
2010-06-22, 08:20 AM
I think Raise Dead can restore limbs. You need to kill the patient first though... That's hardly optimal.

I would say, if you're hit points are full, how could you possibly be missing a limb? So healing would simply regenerate it.

Granted, that does make Inspiring Word, Second Wind and sleep feel a bit odd...Maybe everyone is secretly part tarrasque. :smallbiggrin:

unre9istered
2010-06-22, 08:37 AM
Remove Affliction seems appropriate. The fluff says:


Remove Affliction wipes away a single enduring effect afflicting the subject.

A lost limb seems to be an enduring effect. And regrowing a limb seems in line with a level 8 effect, given the chance you'll die from the healing.

Choco
2010-06-22, 08:42 AM
I think Raise Dead can restore limbs. You need to kill the patient first though... That's hardly optimal.

I do believe this is true. The descriptions of the hand and eye of Vecna say that when the artifact "moves on" that even a raise dead will not give you back your hand/eye, so I guess that implies that raise dead brings you back in perfect condition. That was obvious though, since you can raise someone who had become a fine coating of red paint on the wall.

So if the DM does not add a regeneration ritual (you should suggest that to him first), then you just gonna have to kill yourself and get raised to regenerate :smallbiggrin:

Morph Bark
2010-06-22, 08:56 AM
I would say, if you're hit points are full, how could you possibly be missing a limb? So healing would simply regenerate it.

:smallconfused:

Guess everyone in 4E is a superhero now, huh?

Badgerish
2010-06-22, 08:57 AM
I would stat "Crippled Limb" using the disease rules, but with higher DCs. So, the normal state is weakened or slowed (based on limb), reduced healing surges etc. If you fail too many of the recovery checks, you eventually die! (gangrene) If you keep passing the recovery checks though, you do eventually get better.
The 'remove affliction' ritual fixes you up fine.

Having a limb fully removed but the subject made stable... would be more of a push, but possible. Use the disease rules again, with the best result being "just crippled" (never goes away without the ritual) and the bad results being "crippled and morose" or "crippled and infected".

Kurald Galain
2010-06-22, 09:09 AM
:smallconfused:

Guess everyone in 4E is a superhero now, huh?

Well, yeah. That is one of the design principles, after all: you are a hero from day one.

Choco
2010-06-22, 09:29 AM
Well, yeah. That is one of the design principles, after all: you are a hero from day one.

I was about to say the same thing. Sometimes it seems like 4e characters are more superhero than characters from specifically designed superhero systems...

Maho-Tsukai
2010-06-22, 09:51 AM
4e characters always strike me as more shonen manga/anime hero then western superhero, with their named attacks and such. Bonus points if you shout out the name of a power before you use it, have a weapon that's extremely large and have spiky hair. Hmm...that gives me an idea for a character now..

As for the limb thing, whats already been said is the best advice. Ask your DM to include a regeneration ritual or add regeneration onto an already existing ritual. If he/she's a good guy/gal, he/she should do that. After all, if your going to include an effect in your game that can totally gimp some classes it's only good DMing to include a way to get rid of said effect.

Kurald Galain
2010-06-22, 10:03 AM
We definitely need a "hair slot" for the characters, then...

Tequila Sunrise
2010-06-22, 10:04 AM
I was about to say the same thing. Sometimes it seems like 4e characters are more superhero than characters from specifically designed superhero systems...
It's not that they're more super hero than super heroes, it's that they're magical super heroes. All of them. Even if Second Wind and Inspiring Word don't have magical fluff text, don't fool yourself: these powers are magical. They might be called "martial" or whatever, but that just means they come from a less flashy magical source.

I'm totally serious. :smallsmile:

ZeroNumerous
2010-06-22, 10:05 AM
We definitely need a "hair slot" for the characters, then...

+1 wig of regeneration: Regrows hair when placed on a bald or balding head. :smalltongue:

Choco
2010-06-22, 10:28 AM
We definitely need a "hair slot" for the characters, then...

True that. Cause we all know that the larger and more physically impossible someone's hair is, the more badass that character is. It is getting to the point where I honestly think the character designers make the most insane and impossible hair they can think of just to challenge the cosplayers.

Morph Bark
2010-06-22, 11:20 AM
Well, yeah. That is one of the design principles, after all: you are a hero from day one.

Problem being: everyone is a superhero. Every human, elf, dwarf, tiefling, dragonborn, etc. you meet? Wolverine. In disguise. Really good disguise. Also magical powers.

Which makes it hard to play in a monster-infested world. Either they should all have been long vanquished or everyone goes out there to try to do so, crippling the economy.


But enough off-topicness: this is just something to discuss with your DM. Perhaps he doesn't want something like limb loss to be so easily written off as not something big, at least for this campaign world you are currently in. If so, you can try to find ways around it, get a graft (if those even exist in said campaign world) or kick in the roleplaying.

Or die. Your choice. :smallsmile:

Tiki Snakes
2010-06-22, 11:57 AM
I would stat "Crippled Limb" using the disease rules, but with higher DCs. So, the normal state is weakened or slowed (based on limb), reduced healing surges etc. If you fail too many of the recovery checks, you eventually die! (gangrene) If you keep passing the recovery checks though, you do eventually get better.
The 'remove affliction' ritual fixes you up fine.

Having a limb fully removed but the subject made stable... would be more of a push, but possible. Use the disease rules again, with the best result being "just crippled" (never goes away without the ritual) and the bad results being "crippled and morose" or "crippled and infected".

Well, if someone chops your leg clean off, it's gone, end of story. Isn't really going to get any worse, you either survive the shock or not.

But I could see the gangrene etc thing being worth running with. A Ruined limb has two possible ways out of the disease track, either you get better, or it gets so bad you die of the infections. Now, instead of it being a 'failed save, you die', how about adding a clause where if they reach that stage it's clear that it will kill them if you don't remove the limb?

I agree that there should be a ritual to mitigate the carnage. However, my instincts are that it shouldn't be an overly low level one. Rather, keep it paragon and higher, BUT make prosthetics of the mechanical, magical or so on kind available in case of hand-or-foot removal. See Guts of 'Berserk', Corum (the prince in the scarlet robe, of moorcock) and of course Long John Silver for details. (Honourable mentions, Luke Skywalker and father)

And no, not everyone you meet is Wolverine in disguise. Infact, if you're not a PC, you don't even get Second Wind most of the time. A few monsters, maybe. And you can have your 1 surge (per tier) per day, and you can like it.

Kurald Galain
2010-06-22, 12:05 PM
Well, if someone chops your leg clean off, it's gone, end of story.
Maybe it's chopped off (save ends)? :smalltongue:

flyingchicken
2010-07-15, 08:58 AM
Problem being: everyone is a superhero. Every human, elf, dwarf, tiefling, dragonborn, etc. you meet? Wolverine. In disguise. Really good disguise. Also magical powers.

Which makes it hard to play in a monster-infested world. Either they should all have been long vanquished or everyone goes out there to try to do so, crippling the economy.They're only wolverine if they're important. Otherwise they're just about as strong as some random level 1 monster or minion -- says so in the DMG!